During the treatment of patients in cardiac/respiratory arrest or respiratory distress, medication may be introduced into the lungs for absorption into the blood stream. The medication can take the form of a liquid that is injected into the patients airway via the breathing tube placed into the patient's trachea or via a Multi Dose Inhaler where a dispersed spray of the drug to be absorbed is “puffed” into the breathing tube.
Devices have been provided individually for either of these two means of delivery however no single device has allowed the healthcare worker to select either method or indeed to introduce different drugs by either methods into the airway of the same patient.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,996,579 and 5,762,063 to Coates et al provide two separate ports for administering medicament via syringe through a narrow port and via a nebulizer through a wide mouth port. Use of two separate ports requires individual sealing with caps, complicates the manufacture and use of the device and does not ensure adequate mixing of the medicament with the flow of gas for proper delivery to the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,340 to Schleufe et al provides a port for mixing medicament from a multiple dose inhaler into the interior of the bag of a bag-valve-mask ventilator. However delivery to the patient is impeded since the bag contents must pass through a valve to the patient airway and a large portion of the medicament remains as a coating within the bag and on the valve surfaces.
It is an object of the invention to provide a medicament administration adapter designed to fit within any breathing circuit or to be able to be attached to any resuscitation/ventilation device.
It is a further object that such an adapter provide a single port connection for the insertion of medicament via both a syringe and a multi-dose inhaler canister (MDI).
Further objects of the invention will be apparent from review of the disclosure, drawings and description of the invention below.